HIGHLIGHTS:

$117 MILLION PRIVATE PLACEMENT (US$110 MILLION)

BISHA FINANCE OVERHANG REMOVED

Vancouver, BC- Nevsun Resources Ltd. (TSX:NSU)(NYSE Amex:NSU) - Nevsun Resources Ltd. (”Nevsun”) is pleased to advise that it has arranged a non-brokered private placement financing of 52,000,000 common shares at Cdn $2.25 per share for Cdn$117 million (US$110 million). The private placement is scheduled to close on or before February 19, 2010 and is subject to certain conditions, including the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals. The net proceeds from the offering will be used for Bisha mine development and general working capital purposes.

The Company is confident the funds from this private placement, together with its existing cash and the ongoing one-third contribution by the State of Eritrea to Bisha will be sufficient to see the Bisha project through to cash positive operations. The funding arrangements are in excess of estimated costs to complete so as to provide a reasonable cushion in the event of unforeseen events.

The Eritrean National Mining Corporation (ENAMCO) has reliably provided its one-third contributing share of financing to Bisha as the project has progressed. In addition the State continues to provide overall support for a responsible mining industry that is in the early stages of development within the country.

The change in approach to the funding of the Bisha project is to ensure the project continues on schedule. While Bisha had already completed project debt agreements with European and South African lenders, these debt facilities have not yet been drawn because the European lenders required the German government’s support via its UFK scheme (effectively a partial guarantee to European lenders).

The Company regrets that the European lenders and German government have been unable to follow through within our time requirements. The South African lender recently reconfirmed the availability of project debt (refer to Nevsun news release dated January 14, 2010) however it became apparent very recently that access to the debt in our time frame was uncertain. The Company and ENAMCO have concluded that the debt facilities are sufficiently unreliable and inconclusive for our project.

The Company has taken a prudent business approach to secure funding needed to complete the Bisha project on schedule and has no practical alternative but to proceed without the debt providers. While the Company would have preferred to stay with a leveraged project, the higher priority is to get the project built and producing cash. Due to the very robust nature of the project and assuming recent metals prices, the payback to the Company is now expected to be under one year.

As advised in news releases during January, the project is very well advanced (approaching 50% complete) and costs are re-estimated to be approximately $260 million, close to the original budget of approximately $250 million.

The securities being offered in the non-brokered private placement have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the “U.S. Securities Act”), and such securities may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent registration under the U.S. Securities Act or an exemption therefrom. This release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities in the United States.

Forward Looking Statements: The above contains forward looking statements that are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in our forward looking statements. Factors that could cause such differences include: the closing date of the announced private placement, the total value of the private placement, the adequacy of funding for development of the Bisha project and the continuing availability of funding from the State of Eritrea. Forward-looking statements in this release include statements regarding future dates, plans for proceeds, expected costs to complete, percentage of completion and pay-back period using recent metals prices. Although we believe the expectations reflected in our forward looking statements are reasonable, results may vary, and we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.

NEVSUN RESOURCES LTD.

Cliff T. Davis,

President & Chief Executive Officer

ir@kincommunications.com

Nevsun

Nevsun Resources Ltd. (“Nevsun”) (NSU: TSX and AMEX) wishes to announce that it has entered into a non-brokered private placement financing of 11,500,000 common shares at $2.85 per share. The net proceeds from the offering will be used for general working capital purposes, including exploration and development of the Bisha Project.

The offering is scheduled to close on or before October 30, 2009 and is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals including stock exchange approvals.

The securities being offered have not been, nor will they be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the “U.S. Securities Act”), and such securities may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent registration under the U.S. Securities Act or an exemption therefrom. This release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities in the United States.

Forward Looking Statements: The above contains forward looking statements that are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in our forward looking statements. Factors that could cause such differences include: changes in world commodity markets, equity markets, costs and supply of materials relevant to the mining industry, change in government and changes to regulations affecting the mining industry. Forward-looking statements in this release include statements regarding future dates and plans for proceeds. Although we believe the expectations reflected in our forward looking statements are reasonable, results may vary, and we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.

NEVSUN RESOURCES LTD.

“Cliff T. Davis”

Cliff T. Davis

President & Chief Executive Officer

Nsu09-10.doc For further information, Contact:

Kin Communications

Tel: 604 684 6730

Toll free 1 866 684 6730

Email: ir@kincommunications.com

Website: www.nevsun.com

Highlights

Visit to Bisha Project

Additional Eritrean Government Support

Nevsun Resources Ltd. (NSU-TSX/AMEX) is pleased to report on the successful conclusion of an analyst tour to the Bisha Project from September 27-30. The visit was attended by a number of representatives from leading Canadian and UK institutions. The visit was well received by analysts, the Ministry of Energy and Mines and the Eritrean National Mining Corporation (Enamco). The property tour and country visit was a coordinated effort by Nevsun Resources, Sunridge Gold Corporation and Canadian Gold Hunter (formerly Sanu Resources). The visitors included representatives from Canaccord Capital, Geologic Resource Partners, Griffiths McBurney Partners, Kin Communications and Ocean Equities.

The mining analysts visited Nevsun’s Bisha mine, Canadian Gold Hunter’s Hambok property and Sunridge’s group of properties near Asmara. During the trip, the analysts met with the Minister of Energy and Mines, Ahmed Haj Ali, the Director General of the Mines Department, Alem Kibreab, as well as the General Manager of Enamco, Berhane Habtemariam.

Each of the visitors came away impressed with the quality of the Bisha Project and also by the strong, unmistakable support from the Government of Eritrea. The Government has demonstrated a very commercial approach to the industry in the way it has handled its investment in the Bisha Project, as a contributing partner with Nevsun.

As a further indicator of the Government’s support, Enamco loaned $20 million to Nevsun for use on the Bisha project prior to drawing on the recently announced project debt for Bisha. In addition to this latest $20 million, Enamco has invested a total of $60 million, an investment that should pay back many times over during the course of the mine life.

The recent analyst trip is one of several visits in recent years by investors, analysts and project financiers for Bisha, each of whom have consistently left with positive views of the people, project and country.

Eritrea’s Ministry of Energy and Mines, in cooperation with several international exploration companies, is also participating in the Horn of Africa GeoCongress. This year’s event was held in Asmara on October 1, 2009, where several companies presented their geological prospects. The Ministry has participated in several international mining exhibitions over the past several years to better educate the international community on the benefits of investing in Eritrea. Bisha is a prime example.

Forward Looking Statements: The above contains forward-looking statements concerning the support of the Eritrean government and investment pay back. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “intends,” “estimates,” “potential,” “possible” and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions or results “will,” “may,” “could” or “should” occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements are statements about the future and are inherently uncertain, and actual achievements of the Company or other future events or conditions may differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors, including, without limitation, those described in the Management Discussion and Analysis of the Company. The Company’s forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, expectations and opinions of management on the date the statements are made and the Company assumes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements in the future. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

NEVSUN RESOURCES LTD.

“Cliff T. Davis”

Cliff T. Davis

President & Chief Executive Officer

Nsu09-09.doc For further information, Contact:

Kin Communications

Tel: 604 684 6730

Toll free 1 866 684 6730

Email: ir@kincommunications.com

Website: www.nevsun.com